I am posting this article on Mark Hatley because I want to pass along a little about this very, very special man. I worked for Mark for three years in Chicago. I have known him, his wife, and his daughter since I was in second grade.
Pat Kirwan is right...so many people owe their careers to Mark. I know all of his scouting crew from Chicago, now with Miami, Washington, San Fran -- we owe where we are today because of him. I spoke with Bears Jerry Azumah this afternoon...Zoom was one of Mark's discoveries... a running back he thought could play corner and teams. A fifth round draft choice, Zoom made the Pro Bowl last season. He loved guys like Urlacher who were athletic and loved the game. One of his favorites was Olin Kreutz, who he also drafted, for the nasty, old-school way he plays the game. He would take a chance on a guy like Terry Glenn or Bam Morris, because as a scout talent, he]d say he couldn't stand to pass up on god-given talent.
He spent more time on the road than any scout i knew - he'd call from the small schools I'd never even heard of where he'd be watching film to ask for a daily update. Sometimes he'd call me at midnight and tell me he found a guy on tape he wanted me to get a flight for. I'd say Mark, are you really going to sign this guy? He'd always say in his Texas twang, "Probably not, but Christine, I might..."
When Green Bay blew it against Philly, i couldn't even stand how down he was. He really thought that could have been the shot to make it to the big game finally. The night before we played the Vikings last season, he called and said, Chrissy, what can you do to get that team of yours to win? I called him the second they ruled Poole's catch legit and told him he owed me one. He was elated.
It always amazes me that Mark is not more recognized in the public eye...he was a tiresome worker, but he never cared about the media attention. He just wanted his Super Bowl Ring.. and to find that one special, special player out there.
Sometimes I'd watch film with him, he'd make me dizzy with the rewind button. When I left the Bears, he asked, what can i do to make you stay? I said I needed to grow and do something else. He said he'd give me an area and make me a scout and that i changed his reports often enough anyway. I said that was only when he forgot himself in his writing and used a cuss word to describe how much athletic ability a player had. So i Went my own way.
It hurts my heart so badly to know he's gone. He treated us all who worked for him in Chicago like his own and continued to do so after we left. The world takes way too many of the good ones, and Hat was one of the absolute bests. I'll meet up with all of those who love him at his funeral this weekend and i know he'll be mad that all of his friends are there and he's missing the party. But he'll be in all of our hearts. Maybe he never got his Ring, or seen the fruits of his labor with a Championship Team, I know that was what pushed him when he was tired and out on the road, taking red eyes, ... but the way he lived and the people he touches, he was nothing but a CHAMPION.
- Chrissy Mauck
Hatley was the good guy you loved
NFL.com Senior Analyst
(July 27, 2004) -- Every week during the season I present an award to an "Unsung Hero" coach in the name of Chip Myers, a former NFL coach who died suddenly. He was a friend of mine and the epitome of what an NFL assistant coach should be -- an unselfish tireless worker.
Well, another close friend of mine passed away -- Mark Hatley the vice president for personnel with the Green Bay Packers. Mark offered me the position of pro personnel director when he took over the leadership of the Chicago Bears a few years ago, and for that I will always be grateful. He was to personnel work and front-office people what Myers was to coaching ... the best!
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Mark and I spent a few hours talking at the owners meetings this past spring in Florida, and he was as always a humble, hard worker that never said a bad word about anyone. He was always looking for one kind of NFL player; a man who had passion for the game.
My favorite story about Mark was as I left the New York Jets he called me and asked, "Is there anyone the Jets will cut that you think is my kind of player?" I told him if an unknown center named Casey Wiegmann comes free, he's your kind of player. A tough, undersized athlete with a competitive side to him. When Wiegmann was on the street, Mark grabbed him and he thanked me one hundred times.
Mark was a team player in a world full of individuals. What makes the NFL so successful is not the marketing plans, the television contracts and all the glitz, it's people like Mark who care about the game, the competitive spirit, the search for talent to play it well. He was not a guy hanging around the cameras and the press. He was as my friend Peter King described as a good guy, or as many other NFL people said he was a solid football man.
To his wife, Claudia, and his daughter, Eliza, we all feel the pain of your loss. To the Packers and coach Mike Sherman, I don't have to tell you about the loss to the club. You know how hard Mark worked and how loyal he was to his team. To those who aspire to be successful in the NFL or any other profession, find out all you can about this humble man who let his work speak for him.
There are a whole lot of NFL players past and present who owe their careers to Mark Hatley. He found you late at night in a film room when everyone had already gone home and he gave you a chance … a chance to play in the NFL. He could tell you would make the most of an opportunity after he saw the kind of heart you played with on videotape. Think of him when you count your blessings.
Pat Kirwan is right...so many people owe their careers to Mark. I know all of his scouting crew from Chicago, now with Miami, Washington, San Fran -- we owe where we are today because of him. I spoke with Bears Jerry Azumah this afternoon...Zoom was one of Mark's discoveries... a running back he thought could play corner and teams. A fifth round draft choice, Zoom made the Pro Bowl last season. He loved guys like Urlacher who were athletic and loved the game. One of his favorites was Olin Kreutz, who he also drafted, for the nasty, old-school way he plays the game. He would take a chance on a guy like Terry Glenn or Bam Morris, because as a scout talent, he]d say he couldn't stand to pass up on god-given talent.
He spent more time on the road than any scout i knew - he'd call from the small schools I'd never even heard of where he'd be watching film to ask for a daily update. Sometimes he'd call me at midnight and tell me he found a guy on tape he wanted me to get a flight for. I'd say Mark, are you really going to sign this guy? He'd always say in his Texas twang, "Probably not, but Christine, I might..."
When Green Bay blew it against Philly, i couldn't even stand how down he was. He really thought that could have been the shot to make it to the big game finally. The night before we played the Vikings last season, he called and said, Chrissy, what can you do to get that team of yours to win? I called him the second they ruled Poole's catch legit and told him he owed me one. He was elated.
It always amazes me that Mark is not more recognized in the public eye...he was a tiresome worker, but he never cared about the media attention. He just wanted his Super Bowl Ring.. and to find that one special, special player out there.
Sometimes I'd watch film with him, he'd make me dizzy with the rewind button. When I left the Bears, he asked, what can i do to make you stay? I said I needed to grow and do something else. He said he'd give me an area and make me a scout and that i changed his reports often enough anyway. I said that was only when he forgot himself in his writing and used a cuss word to describe how much athletic ability a player had. So i Went my own way.
It hurts my heart so badly to know he's gone. He treated us all who worked for him in Chicago like his own and continued to do so after we left. The world takes way too many of the good ones, and Hat was one of the absolute bests. I'll meet up with all of those who love him at his funeral this weekend and i know he'll be mad that all of his friends are there and he's missing the party. But he'll be in all of our hearts. Maybe he never got his Ring, or seen the fruits of his labor with a Championship Team, I know that was what pushed him when he was tired and out on the road, taking red eyes, ... but the way he lived and the people he touches, he was nothing but a CHAMPION.
- Chrissy Mauck
Hatley was the good guy you loved
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By Pat KirwanNFL.com Senior Analyst
(July 27, 2004) -- Every week during the season I present an award to an "Unsung Hero" coach in the name of Chip Myers, a former NFL coach who died suddenly. He was a friend of mine and the epitome of what an NFL assistant coach should be -- an unselfish tireless worker.
Well, another close friend of mine passed away -- Mark Hatley the vice president for personnel with the Green Bay Packers. Mark offered me the position of pro personnel director when he took over the leadership of the Chicago Bears a few years ago, and for that I will always be grateful. He was to personnel work and front-office people what Myers was to coaching ... the best!
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Mark and I spent a few hours talking at the owners meetings this past spring in Florida, and he was as always a humble, hard worker that never said a bad word about anyone. He was always looking for one kind of NFL player; a man who had passion for the game.
My favorite story about Mark was as I left the New York Jets he called me and asked, "Is there anyone the Jets will cut that you think is my kind of player?" I told him if an unknown center named Casey Wiegmann comes free, he's your kind of player. A tough, undersized athlete with a competitive side to him. When Wiegmann was on the street, Mark grabbed him and he thanked me one hundred times.
Mark was a team player in a world full of individuals. What makes the NFL so successful is not the marketing plans, the television contracts and all the glitz, it's people like Mark who care about the game, the competitive spirit, the search for talent to play it well. He was not a guy hanging around the cameras and the press. He was as my friend Peter King described as a good guy, or as many other NFL people said he was a solid football man.
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Mark Hatley had great enthusiasm for the job and served the Packers well. Mark Hatley may never be recognized as a star of the NFL, but he never tried be a star. He was a worker, a film grader, went to college campuses to discover talent, a guy who studied personalities and found ways to best contribute to the team he was with. Mark never really campaigned for jobs or promotions. Smart people found him because of his reputation. I'm sure his close friend Rick Spielman in Miami, like myself, is just devastated by the loss. He will be missed by the people who saw the game the same way he did. To his wife, Claudia, and his daughter, Eliza, we all feel the pain of your loss. To the Packers and coach Mike Sherman, I don't have to tell you about the loss to the club. You know how hard Mark worked and how loyal he was to his team. To those who aspire to be successful in the NFL or any other profession, find out all you can about this humble man who let his work speak for him.
There are a whole lot of NFL players past and present who owe their careers to Mark Hatley. He found you late at night in a film room when everyone had already gone home and he gave you a chance … a chance to play in the NFL. He could tell you would make the most of an opportunity after he saw the kind of heart you played with on videotape. Think of him when you count your blessings.
